Apparatuses and methods for identifying infrastructure through machine learning

ABSTRACT

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, obtaining a first plurality of inputs that identify a plurality of geographical locations and a plurality of infrastructure located at the plurality of geographical locations, classifying each of the plurality of geographical locations in accordance with the first plurality of inputs to obtain a plurality of classes, obtaining a second plurality of inputs that identify costs, revenue, profits, or any combination thereof, associated with the plurality of infrastructure, processing the second plurality of inputs in conjunction with the plurality of classes to identify a first plurality of locations included in the plurality of geographical locations to decommission infrastructure included in the plurality of infrastructure, and presenting the first plurality of locations via a device. Other embodiments are disclosed.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/722,009 filed on Dec. 20, 2019. All sections of the aforementionedapplication are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The subject disclosure relates to apparatuses and methods foridentifying infrastructure through machine learning.

BACKGROUND

As the world becomes increasingly connected over vast communicationsystems and networks, the costs associated with provisioning andmaintaining the systems/networks continue to escalate. For example,network resources may need to be provisioned/allocated to ensure that asufficient quality of service (QoS) is maintained when presented withincreasing or dynamic loads represented by new users/subscribers.

In an effort to keep costs under control, a network operator or serviceprovider may desire to decommission infrastructure (poles, wires/cables,transmitters/receivers, processing equipment, etc.). For example, thenetwork operator/service provider may license or rent the use of suchinfrastructure as part of providing service. Depending on the nature ofthe user/subscriber footprint in a given area/region, it might not beeconomically viable/prudent to continue licensing/renting the use ofsuch infrastructure in the given area/region. However, data regardingsuch infrastructure is frequently incomplete/faulty. For example, aservice address associated with a user/subscriber may be different froma billing address associated with the user/subscriber (e.g., a thirdparty located at the billing address may process a billing statement onbehalf of the user/subscriber). If the network operator/service providerfails to account for this distinction in terms of service versus billinglocation, the network operator/service provider may falsely believe thatthe user/subscriber is located at the billing address. Still further,due to a variety of factors such as maintenance, the use of legacydatabases, etc., data regarding a location of given infrastructure (aswell as an identification of a type of infrastructure at a givenlocation) may be incomplete or may become stale over time.

In view of the foregoing considerations, it is challenging to identifyinfrastructure to decommission/retire. For example, conventionaltechniques rely on a process whereby personnel visually inspect a givenarea/region using geographical information systems (GISs), such asmapping applications. Such a process is manual/laborious (and hence,time-consuming and expensive) and is susceptible to human error. In thisregard, conventional techniques are inadequate/sub-optimal in terms ofan identification of infrastructure to decommission.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are notnecessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary, non-limitingembodiment of a communications network in accordance with variousaspects described herein.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a system functioning within the communication network ofFIG. 1 in accordance with various aspects described herein.

FIG. 2B depicts an illustrative embodiment of a method in accordancewith various aspects described herein.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a virtualized communication network in accordance withvarious aspects described herein.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example, non-limiting embodiment of acomputing environment in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example, non-limiting embodiment of amobile network platform in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example, non-limiting embodiment of acommunication device in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject disclosure describes, among other things, illustrativeembodiments for identifying resources (e.g., infrastructure) todecommission and/or deploy in association with a network (e.g., acommunication network) or a system (e.g., a communication system) in oneor more geographical locations. Other embodiments are described in thesubject disclosure.

One or more aspects of the subject disclosure include obtaining a firstplurality of inputs that identify a plurality of geographical locations,wherein the first plurality of inputs includes a map, a satellite image,an aerial image, an image included on a social media platform, or anycombination thereof, processing the first plurality of inputs to obtaina geocoding of the plurality of geographical locations, classifying eachof the plurality of geographical locations in accordance with thegeocoding to obtain a plurality of classes, obtaining a second pluralityof inputs that identify costs associated with a plurality ofinfrastructure located at the plurality of geographical locations,processing the second plurality of inputs in conjunction with theplurality of classes to generate a list of locations included in theplurality of geographical locations to decommission infrastructureincluded in the plurality of infrastructure, and presenting the list, amodified list corresponding to a modification of the list, or acombination thereof, on an output device.

One or more aspects of the subject disclosure include obtaining a firstplurality of inputs that identify a plurality of geographical locationsand a plurality of infrastructure located at the plurality ofgeographical locations, classifying each of the plurality ofgeographical locations in accordance with the first plurality of inputsto obtain a plurality of classes, obtaining a second plurality of inputsthat identify costs, revenue, profits, or any combination thereof,associated with the plurality of infrastructure, processing the secondplurality of inputs in conjunction with the plurality of classes toidentify a first plurality of locations included in the plurality ofgeographical locations to decommission infrastructure included in theplurality of infrastructure, and presenting the first plurality oflocations via a device.

One or more aspects of the subject disclosure include obtaining at leastone map corresponding to at least one geographical area where networkinfrastructure is located, processing at least the at least one map toclassify the at least one geographical area, resulting in a class,identifying a cost associated with the network infrastructure inaccordance with the class, determining that the network infrastructureis to be decommissioned in accordance with the cost, and generating anoutput that indicates that the network infrastructure is recommended tobe decommissioned responsive to the determining.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a block diagram is shown illustrating anexample, non-limiting embodiment of a communications network 100 inaccordance with various aspects described herein. For example,communications network 100 can facilitate in whole or in part obtaininga first plurality of inputs that identify a plurality of geographicallocations, wherein the first plurality of inputs includes a map, asatellite image, an aerial image, an image included on a social mediaplatform, or any combination thereof, processing the first plurality ofinputs to obtain a geocoding of the plurality of geographical locations,classifying each of the plurality of geographical locations inaccordance with the geocoding to obtain a plurality of classes,obtaining a second plurality of inputs that identify costs associatedwith a plurality of infrastructure located at the plurality ofgeographical locations, processing the second plurality of inputs inconjunction with the plurality of classes to generate a list oflocations included in the plurality of geographical locations todecommission infrastructure included in the plurality of infrastructure,and presenting the list, a modified list corresponding to a modificationof the list, or a combination thereof, on an output device.Communications network 100 can facilitate in whole or in part obtaininga first plurality of inputs that identify a plurality of geographicallocations and a plurality of infrastructure located at the plurality ofgeographical locations, classifying each of the plurality ofgeographical locations in accordance with the first plurality of inputsto obtain a plurality of classes, obtaining a second plurality of inputsthat identify costs, revenue, profits, or any combination thereof,associated with the plurality of infrastructure, processing the secondplurality of inputs in conjunction with the plurality of classes toidentify a first plurality of locations included in the plurality ofgeographical locations to decommission infrastructure included in theplurality of infrastructure, and presenting the first plurality oflocations via a device. Communications network 100 can facilitate inwhole or in part obtaining at least one map corresponding to at leastone geographical area where network infrastructure is located,processing at least the at least one map to classify the at least onegeographical area, resulting in a class, identifying a cost associatedwith the network infrastructure in accordance with the class,determining that the network infrastructure is to be decommissioned inaccordance with the cost, and generating an output that indicates thatthe network infrastructure is recommended to be decommissionedresponsive to the determining.

As shown in FIG. 1, a communications network 125 is presented forproviding broadband access 110 to a plurality of data terminals 114 viaaccess terminal 112, wireless access 120 to a plurality of mobiledevices 124 and vehicle 126 via base station or access point 122, voiceaccess 130 to a plurality of telephony devices 134, via switching device132 and/or media access 140 to a plurality of audio/video displaydevices 144 via media terminal 142. In addition, communication network125 is coupled to one or more content sources 175 of audio, video,graphics, text and/or other media. While broadband access 110, wirelessaccess 120, voice access 130 and media access 140 are shown separately,one or more of these forms of access can be combined to provide multipleaccess services to a single client device (e.g., mobile devices 124 canreceive media content via media terminal 142, data terminal 114 can beprovided voice access via switching device 132, and so on).

The communications network 125 includes a plurality of network elements(NE) 150, 152, 154, 156, etc. for facilitating the broadband access 110,wireless access 120, voice access 130, media access 140 and/or thedistribution of content from content sources 175. The communicationsnetwork 125 can include a circuit switched or packet switched network, avoice over Internet protocol (VoIP) network, Internet protocol (IP)network, a cable network, a passive or active optical network, a 4G, 5G,or higher generation wireless access network, WIMAX network,UltraWideband network, personal area network or other wireless accessnetwork, a broadcast satellite network and/or other communicationsnetwork.

In various embodiments, the access terminal 112 can include a digitalsubscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM), cable modem terminationsystem (CMTS), optical line terminal (OLT) and/or other access terminal.The data terminals 114 can include personal computers, laptop computers,netbook computers, tablets or other computing devices along with digitalsubscriber line (DSL) modems, data over coax service interfacespecification (DOCSIS) modems or other cable modems, a wireless modemsuch as a 4G, 5G, or higher generation modem, an optical modem and/orother access devices.

In various embodiments, the base station or access point 122 can includea 4G, 5G, or higher generation base station, an access point thatoperates via an 802.11 standard such as 802.11n, 802.11ac or otherwireless access terminal. The mobile devices 124 can include mobilephones, e-readers, tablets, phablets, wireless modems, and/or othermobile computing devices.

In various embodiments, the switching device 132 can include a privatebranch exchange or central office switch, a media services gateway, VoIPgateway or other gateway device and/or other switching device. Thetelephony devices 134 can include traditional telephones (with orwithout a terminal adapter), VoIP telephones and/or other telephonydevices.

In various embodiments, the media terminal 142 can include a cablehead-end or other TV head-end, a satellite receiver, gateway or othermedia terminal 142. The display devices 144 can include televisions withor without a set top box, personal computers and/or other displaydevices.

In various embodiments, the content sources 175 include broadcasttelevision and radio sources, video on demand platforms and streamingvideo and audio services platforms, one or more content data networks,data servers, web servers and other content servers, and/or othersources of media.

In various embodiments, the communications network 125 can includewired, optical and/or wireless links and the network elements 150, 152,154, 156, etc. can include service switching points, signal transferpoints, service control points, network gateways, media distributionhubs, servers, firewalls, routers, edge devices, switches and othernetwork nodes for routing and controlling communications traffic overwired, optical and wireless links as part of the Internet and otherpublic networks as well as one or more private networks, for managingsubscriber access, for billing and network management and for supportingother network functions.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a system 200 a functioning within, or operatively overlaidupon, the communication network 100 of FIG. 1 in accordance with variousaspects described herein. The system 200 a may include one or morecomputing devices, such as for example a first training phase computingdevice 206 a, a second optimization phase computing device 210 a, and athird presentation phase computing device 214 a. The role/functionalityassociated with each of the computing devices 206 a through 214 a isdescribed in further detail below.

While the computing devices 206 a through 214 a are shown separately(potentially as part of a distributed computing/processing environment)in FIG. 2A, in some embodiments two or more of the computing devices 206a through 214 a may be located within a common device/housing. In someembodiments, the system 200 a may be arranged as part of a peer-to-peernetwork, where a first of the computing devices (e.g., the computingdevice 206 a) may be a peer of a second of the computing devices (e.g.,the computing device 210 a). Still further, in some embodiments aspectsof the system 200 a may be implemented in accordance with aserver-client architecture. In this respect, the computing devices 206 aand 210 a may be incorporated/included as part of one or more serversand the computing device 214 a may be incorporated/included as part ofone or more client devices or user equipment (UEs).

The system 200 a (e.g., the computing device 206 a) may obtain (e.g.,receive) one or more inputs (e.g., inputs 218 a). The system 200 a mayprocess the inputs 218 a to generate one or more outputs (e.g., outputs222 a). Still further, the system 200 a (e.g., the computing device 214a) may generate/obtain/provide feedback 226 a. The feedback 226 a (whichmay correspond to a portion of the outputs 222 a in some embodiments)may be provided to the computing device 206 a and/or the computingdevice 210 a for purposes of refining/enhancing an accuracy in theoutputs 222 a as described in further detail below.

In some embodiments, the inputs 218 a may include maps. The maps may beobtained (e.g., received) from one or more (third-party) mappingproviders, may be distributed via one or more networks or platforms,and/or may be captured using image capture technology (e.g., satelliteor aerial imaging equipment, imagery obtained via one or more socialmedia networks/platforms, etc.). In some embodiments, the inputs 218 amay include census data that may identify a location (e.g., an addressor residence) of a given person. In some embodiments, the inputs 218 amay include public data, such as information regarding tax rolls in agiven area/jurisdiction, publications of death (e.g., obituaries, deathcertificates, etc.), news reports, public utility information, etc. Insome embodiments, the inputs 218 a may include information that islocal/proprietary to a service operator/network provider, such as forexample an identification of network/drop line topologies,identifications of subscribers/users (past or present), etc.

The computing device 206 a may process the inputs 218 a to generate oneor more geocodes. In this respect, the computing device 206 a mayexecute one or more geocoding algorithms to transform physical addressesidentified in conjunction with the inputs 218 a to locations on theEarth's surface, where the locations may be specified as a spatialrepresentation in numerical or other coordinates.

The inputs 218 a and/or the geocodes may be incorporated as part of oneor more models developed and/or maintained at the computing device 206a. For example, the models may include deep neural networks, supportvector machines (SVMs), random forests/random decision forests, and anykind or type of machine learning algorithm/device. The models, oncetrained, may be able to classify new addresses or geocodes that areprovided to the system 200 a, potentially as part of (future instancesof) the inputs 218 a.

In some embodiments, the models of the computing device 206 a may beused to generate classifications 232 a of various areas/regions. Forexample, in some embodiments the models may classify a given area/regionas being an urban area/region or a rural area/region (e.g., a park suchas a national park). Other forms/grades/types of classification may beused in some embodiments, such as for example a selection correspondingto rural, suburban, or urban.

From the perspective of a network operator/service provider andoperating under an assumption of all other conditions being equal, arural area/region may represent a better candidate for purposes ofdecommissioning/retiring infrastructure located therein relative to asuburban area/region. Similarly, a suburban area/region may represent abetter candidate for purposes of decommissioning/retiring infrastructurelocated therein relative to an urban area/region (again, operating underan assumption of all other conditions being equal).

The classifications 232 a generated by (the models of) the computingdevice 206 a may serve as inputs to the computing device 210 a. Theclassified areas/regions embodied within the classifications 232 a maybe combined with data/information 236 a (where the data/information 236a may be included as part of the inputs 218 a in some embodiments) atthe computing device 210 a to generate a list 240 a (e.g., a prioritylisting) of recommended areas/regions for a decommissioning ofinfrastructure. The data/information 236 a may include an identificationof actual or estimated infrastructure costs, such as for examplemaintenance costs, pole rental/licensing costs, costs associated withtransporting service personnel to an area/region where theinfrastructure is located, etc. The data/information 236 a may include aspecification of actual and/or estimated revenue or profits attributableto the infrastructure.

The recommendations embodied in the list 240 a may be provided (e.g.,transmitted) to the computing device 214 a. Upon obtaining the list 240a, the computing device 214 a may store the list 240 a in a storagedevice (e.g., a memory, a database, etc.) included in, orcoupled/accessible to, the computing device 214 a. In some embodiments,the computing device 214 a may present the list 240 a as the outputs 222a in accordance with/via an output capability/device, e.g., a speaker, adisplay screen/device, a print-out, an electronic report or message,etc. In some embodiments, the computing device 214 a may process thelist 240 a and may present recommendations associated therewith as theoutputs 222 a in a format where the recommendations are overlaid on topof representations of locations on a map (or other representation of oneor more given geographical areas/regions). In some embodiments, thecomputing device 214 a may apply special effects (e.g., highlighting,color-coding, an assignment/indication of a numerical ranking, shapes,symbols, etc.) to the recommendations in presenting the outputs 222 a toemphasize, or otherwise distinguish, those areas/regions that arerecommended for infrastructure decommissioning (relative to otherareas/regions that aren't recommended for infrastructuredecommissioning). In some embodiments, the recommendations may bepresented by the computing device 214 a as the outputs 222 a inaccordance with a global positioning system (GPS) and/or a navigationsystem to facilitate directions for transporting personnel and/orequipment to a given site for purposes of decommissioninginfrastructure. In some embodiments, the recommendations may be providedas part of a fleet of autonomous vehicles in order to transport thepersonnel and/or equipment in accordance with a work/maintenanceschedule. In some embodiments, the computing device 214 a may provideinstructions (e.g., a tutorial, such as a video tutorial) as the outputs222 a in conjunction with the recommendations that describe techniques(e.g., tools, techniques/methods/best-practices, etc.) fordecommissioning the infrastructure.

In some embodiments, the computing device 214 a may obtain (e.g.,receive) one or more user-generated inputs 244 a that cause arecommendation included in the list 240 a to be modified in presentingthe outputs 222 a. For example, a user-generated input 244 a mayre-order a relative priority between a first area/region and a secondarea/region for purposes of decommissioning infrastructure located inthe respective areas/regions. In some embodiments, the computing device214 a may accept/process the user-generated input 244 a on the basis ofa user or device providing a credential that may be validated/verifiedby the computing device 214 a. In this manner, in some embodiments amodification of the listing 240 a (or recommendations associatedtherewith) in presenting the outputs 222 a may be limited to a subset of(authorized) users or devices.

While represented as a user-generated input 244 a in FIG. 2A, in someembodiments the input 244 a may correspond to an occurrence of an eventor a condition. For example, a mass exodus of users/subscribers in agiven area (such as for example due to an occurrence of a naturaldisaster rendering the area “unlivable” or “uninhabitable”) may triggera re-ordering of priorities in terms of decommissioning infrastructurein the given area. In this respect, the input 244 a mayencapsulate/include an identification of an occurrence of such events orconditions.

As described above, the computing device 214 a may generate feedback 226a that may be provided to the computing device 206 a and/or thecomputing device 210 a. The feedback 226 a may be based at least in parton the input 244 a. In some embodiments, the feedback 226 a may be basedat least in part on a user response to a survey.

In some embodiments, the feedback 226 a may indicate any errors inrecommendations incorporated in the list 240 a that may have been causedby an error/inaccuracy in the models of the computing device 206 aand/or an error/inaccuracy in the data/information 236 a processed bythe computing device 210 a. In this respect, the feedback 226 a may beused by the system 200 a as a corrective mechanism in order torefine/enhance the accuracy of parameters or data associated with thecomputing device 206 a and/or the computing device 210 a. Statedslightly differently, the parameters/data used in the system 200 a maybe dynamic in nature, and may adapt to changing events, circumstances,or conditions over time. In this regard, parameters, data, and models ofthe system 200 a may be referred to as being “living” or “live” innature, whereby the parameters, data, and models may incorporate aspectsof machine learning and artificial intelligence in order to adapt overtime.

In view of the foregoing, one skilled in the art will appreciate thatcontinued use of the system 200 a may cause any errors in therecommendations of the list 240 a to converge to zero over time. Inturn, as the system 200 a tends to become more accurate in terms ofrecommendations/outputs 222 a generated by the system 200 a over time,such increased/enhanced accuracy may tend to encourage furtheruse/adoption of the system 200 a on the part of a user community, suchthat the rate of convergence (in terms of accuracy) may tend to increaseover time.

In some embodiments, users/subscribers may be provided an incentive forswitching service (e.g., for switching from a wireline service to afixed wireless service). Such an incentive may be embodied as a coupon,a discount code, etc. This incentive may be included as part of theoutputs 222 a and/or the list 240 a. User/Subscriber acceptance of theincentive may be embodied in the input 244 a and/or the feedback 226 a,which may serve as a factor in a decision as to whether to decommissioninfrastructure in the user's/subscriber's area/region. Still further, insome embodiments infrastructure may be identified as being capable ofbeing decommissioned, while at the same time being replaced by another(e.g., different) product and/or service. The product and/or service maybe identified using the same data that may be used to classify a region.In this respect, aspects of the disclosure may include new/replacementproduct or service recommendation models that may be operative inconjunction with infrastructure detection/decommissioning models.

In some embodiments, outputs may be presented via one or more outputdevices, such as for example a speaker, a display device, a printer,etc. In some embodiments, one or more inputs and/or feedback may beobtained via an input device, such as for example a keyboard, a mouse, apointer/stylus, a touchscreen, etc. In some embodiments, an input/output(I/O) device may facilitate aspects of both an input device and anoutput device, which is to say that an I/O device may generate/provideoutputs and obtain inputs.

FIG. 2B depicts an illustrative embodiment of a method 200 b inaccordance with various aspects described herein. In some embodiments,the method 200 b may be executed in conjunction with one or more of thesystems, devices, and/or components described herein. Aspects of themethod 200 b may be used to identify and/or prioritize areas/regionsthat are candidates for a decommissioning of infrastructure. The method200 b may be practiced/implemented by a network operator or serviceprovider, or a party in association (e.g., in privity) therewith.

In block 204 b, inputs (e.g., inputs 218 a of FIG. 2A) regardinggeographical locations (e.g., areas/regions) of interest may be obtained(e.g., received). For example, the inputs of block 204 b may includemaps of the geographical locations. The inputs of block 204 b mayinclude imagery captured via image capture equipment and/or imagerysourced/provided via one or more networks. The inputs of block 204 b mayinclude publicly accessible data, such as for example census data, taxdata, zoning data, law enforcement data, utility data (e.g., power griddata, water data, transportation data), government-issued certificates,etc.

In block 208 b, the inputs of block 204 b may be processed to obtain ageocoding of the geographical locations. The processing of block 208 bmay transform physical addresses identified in conjunction with theinputs of block 204 b to locations on the Earth's surface (e.g., aspatial representation in numerical or other coordinates). Variousareas/regions may be distinguished from one another on the basis of thegeocodes generated in block 208 b, such that the areas/regions may be(virtually) separated from one another via a geofence.

The processing of block 208 b may result in an identification of objectsthat may be present in the imagery of block 204 b. For example, theprocessing of the imagery performed in block 208 b may identify objectsthat may inhibit communications (e.g., obstructions in a line-of-sightbetween a transmitter and a receiver in respect of wirelesscommunications). The processing of the imagery in block 208 b mayidentify objects that may potentially be supportive of communications(e.g., a pole or other object that may be used to mount a base stationor an access point of a distributed communication system). Theprocessing of the imagery in block 208 b may identify infrastructure(e.g., poles, wires/cables, transmitters/receivers, processingequipment, etc.) that may be present in the images.

In block 212 b, the geographical locations (of block 204 b) may beclassified, potentially on the basis of the processing of block 208 b.For example, the geocodes of block 208 b (potentially in conjunctionwith the identification of objects in block 208 b) may be classified asbeing associated with a rural area, a suburban area, or an urban area.Other forms/grades of classification may be used in some embodiments aspart of block 212 b. For example, the classification of block 212 b mayscore a geographical location on a scale of 1-10, where a score of 10may be indicative of a densely populated area and a score of 1 may beindicative of a sparsely populated area.

In block 216 b, inputs (e.g., data/information 236 a of FIG. 2A)regarding actual or estimated infrastructure costs may be obtained. Forexample, the inputs of block 216 b may be obtained from a database thatreflects historical costs associated with infrastructure identified inthe images as part of block 208 b.

In block 220 b, the inputs of block 216 b may be processed in accordancewith the classifications of block 212 b to generate a list ofrecommended geographical locations for purposes of decommissioninginfrastructure. For example, any costs associated with the provisioningor maintenance of the infrastructure may be weighted relative to (actualor estimated) revenue or profits generated via the infrastructure toprioritize geographical locations where infrastructure should likely bedecommissioned as part of the recommendations. The list of block 220 bmay identify a recommended priority order for decommissioninginfrastructure. The list 220 b may include recommendations for replacinginfrastructure with one or more products or services as described above.

In block 224 b, inputs (e.g., inputs 244 a of FIG. 2A) may be obtainedthat may modify/refine the recommendations included in the list of block220 b. The inputs of block 224 b may be affirmatively provided (e.g.,may be entered and/or received via a user interface of a computingdevice) and/or may be inferred based on an occurrence of one or moreevents or conditions.

In block 228 b, the recommendations of block 220 b (as potentiallymodified in block 224 b) may be presented as outputs (e.g., outputs 222a of FIG. 2A). The presentation of block 228 b may occur via aninput/output interface and may take one or more forms, such as forexample graphical displays, text, speech/audio, reports,instructions/directions, etc.

In block 232 b, feedback may be generated based on the recommendations(of, e.g., block 220 b and/or block 224 b) and/or the outputs (e.g.,outputs of block 228 b). The feedback of block 232 b may be based atleast in part on user-provided feedback.

In block 236 b, one or more parameters, datasets, and/or models may bemodified/refined on the basis of the feedback of block 232 b. In thisregard, any error that may have been present in the recommendations (of,e.g., block 220 b and/or block 224 b) and/or presented outputs (of,e.g., block 228 b) may tend to converge towards zero (e.g., anerror-free algorithm) on the basis of the modification/refinement ofblock 236 b. Stated slightly differently, one or more blocks (orportions thereof) of the method 200 b may be executediteratively/repeatedly, following an adaption of aspects of the blocksin accordance with the feedback of block 236 b.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIG. 2B, itis to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter isnot limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described herein.

While some of the examples described herein pertain to a decommissioningof infrastructure, aspects of the disclosure may be used in conjunctionwith a commissioning/deployment of infrastructure. For example, aspectsof the disclosure may be used to identify/generate recommendationsregarding areas/regions where infrastructure should be deployed, as wellas identify a priority order for such deployment. Aspects of artificialintelligence/machine learning may be utilized in conjunction with such adeployment.

While some of the examples described herein pertain to infrastructure,other types of identifiable resources may be the subject of aspects ofthis disclosure. For example, recommendations or decisions regardingstaffing or allocations of personnel may bemade/generated/provided/obtained in accordance with aspects of thisdisclosure.

Data or information utilized as part of this disclosure may beorganized/arranged as one or more datasets. In accordance with aspectsof this disclosure, data may be modified/updated/refreshed in accordancewith an execution of one or more algorithms or operations as describedherein. In this respect, aspects of the disclosure may be operative inaccordance with a most-current set of data, while still taking intoconsideration historical/legacy data. In some embodiments,historical/legacy data and current data may be utilized in combinationwith one another. In such embodiments, the historical data may beweighted relative to the current data in generating one or more outputsor results. In some embodiments, the weighting may correspond to, or beincluded in, one or more filtering algorithms to reduce sensitivity tospurious data points included in a dataset.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a block diagram 300 is shown illustrating anexample, non-limiting embodiment of a virtualized communication networkin accordance with various aspects described herein. In particular avirtualized communication network is presented that can be used toimplement some or all of the subsystems and functions of communicationnetwork 100, the subsystems and functions of system 200 a, and method200 b presented in FIGS. 1, 2A, and 2B. For example, virtualizedcommunication network 300 can facilitate in whole or in part obtaining afirst plurality of inputs that identify a plurality of geographicallocations, wherein the first plurality of inputs includes a map, asatellite image, an aerial image, an image included on a social mediaplatform, or any combination thereof, processing the first plurality ofinputs to obtain a geocoding of the plurality of geographical locations,classifying each of the plurality of geographical locations inaccordance with the geocoding to obtain a plurality of classes,obtaining a second plurality of inputs that identify costs associatedwith a plurality of infrastructure located at the plurality ofgeographical locations, processing the second plurality of inputs inconjunction with the plurality of classes to generate a list oflocations included in the plurality of geographical locations todecommission infrastructure included in the plurality of infrastructure,and presenting the list, a modified list corresponding to a modificationof the list, or a combination thereof, on an output device. Virtualizedcommunication network 300 can facilitate in whole or in part obtaining afirst plurality of inputs that identify a plurality of geographicallocations and a plurality of infrastructure located at the plurality ofgeographical locations, classifying each of the plurality ofgeographical locations in accordance with the first plurality of inputsto obtain a plurality of classes, obtaining a second plurality of inputsthat identify costs, revenue, profits, or any combination thereof,associated with the plurality of infrastructure, processing the secondplurality of inputs in conjunction with the plurality of classes toidentify a first plurality of locations included in the plurality ofgeographical locations to decommission infrastructure included in theplurality of infrastructure, and presenting the first plurality oflocations via a device. Virtualized communication network 300 canfacilitate in whole or in part obtaining at least one map correspondingto at least one geographical area where network infrastructure islocated, processing at least the at least one map to classify the atleast one geographical area, resulting in a class, identifying a costassociated with the network infrastructure in accordance with the class,determining that the network infrastructure is to be decommissioned inaccordance with the cost, and generating an output that indicates thatthe network infrastructure is recommended to be decommissionedresponsive to the determining.

In particular, a cloud networking architecture is shown that leveragescloud technologies and supports rapid innovation and scalability via atransport layer 350, a virtualized network function cloud 325 and/or oneor more cloud computing environments 375. In various embodiments, thiscloud networking architecture is an open architecture that leveragesapplication programming interfaces (APIs); reduces complexity fromservices and operations; supports more nimble business models; andrapidly and seamlessly scales to meet evolving customer requirementsincluding traffic growth, diversity of traffic types, and diversity ofperformance and reliability expectations.

In contrast to traditional network elements—which are typicallyintegrated to perform a single function, the virtualized communicationnetwork employs virtual network elements (VNEs) 330, 332, 334, etc. thatperform some or all of the functions of network elements 150, 152, 154,156, etc. For example, the network architecture can provide a substrateof networking capability, often called Network Function VirtualizationInfrastructure (NFVI) or simply infrastructure that is capable of beingdirected with software and Software Defined Networking (SDN) protocolsto perform a broad variety of network functions and services. Thisinfrastructure can include several types of substrates. The most typicaltype of substrate being servers that support Network FunctionVirtualization (NFV), followed by packet forwarding capabilities basedon generic computing resources, with specialized network technologiesbrought to bear when general-purpose processors or general-purposeintegrated circuit devices offered by merchants (referred to herein asmerchant silicon) are not appropriate. In this case, communicationservices can be implemented as cloud-centric workloads.

As an example, a traditional network element 150 (shown in FIG. 1), suchas an edge router can be implemented via a VNE 330 composed of NFVsoftware modules, merchant silicon, and associated controllers. Thesoftware can be written so that increasing workload consumes incrementalresources from a common resource pool, and moreover so that it iselastic: so, the resources are only consumed when needed. In a similarfashion, other network elements such as other routers, switches, edgecaches, and middle-boxes are instantiated from the common resource pool.Such sharing of infrastructure across a broad set of uses makes planningand growing infrastructure easier to manage.

In an embodiment, the transport layer 350 includes fiber, cable, wiredand/or wireless transport elements, network elements and interfaces toprovide broadband access 110, wireless access 120, voice access 130,media access 140 and/or access to content sources 175 for distributionof content to any or all of the access technologies. In particular, insome cases a network element needs to be positioned at a specific place,and this allows for less sharing of common infrastructure. Other times,the network elements have specific physical layer adapters that cannotbe abstracted or virtualized and might require special DSP code andanalog front ends (AFEs) that do not lend themselves to implementationas VNEs 330, 332 or 334. These network elements can be included intransport layer 350.

The virtualized network function cloud 325 interfaces with the transportlayer 350 to provide the VNEs 330, 332, 334, etc. to provide specificNFVs. In particular, the virtualized network function cloud 325leverages cloud operations, applications, and architectures to supportnetworking workloads. The virtualized network elements 330, 332 and 334can employ network function software that provides either a one-for-onemapping of traditional network element function or alternately somecombination of network functions designed for cloud computing. Forexample, VNEs 330, 332 and 334 can include route reflectors, domain namesystem (DNS) servers, and dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP)servers, system architecture evolution (SAE) and/or mobility managemententity (MME) gateways, broadband network gateways, IP edge routers forIP-VPN, Ethernet and other services, load balancers, distributers andother network elements. Because these elements do not typically need toforward substantial amounts of traffic, their workload can bedistributed across a number of servers—each of which adds a portion ofthe capability, and which creates an overall elastic function withhigher availability than its former monolithic version. These virtualnetwork elements 330, 332, 334, etc. can be instantiated and managedusing an orchestration approach similar to those used in cloud computeservices.

The cloud computing environments 375 can interface with the virtualizednetwork function cloud 325 via APIs that expose functional capabilitiesof the VNEs 330, 332, 334, etc. to provide the flexible and expandedcapabilities to the virtualized network function cloud 325. Inparticular, network workloads may have applications distributed acrossthe virtualized network function cloud 325 and cloud computingenvironment 375 and in the commercial cloud or might simply orchestrateworkloads supported entirely in NFV infrastructure from thesethird-party locations.

Turning now to FIG. 4, there is illustrated a block diagram of acomputing environment in accordance with various aspects describedherein. In order to provide additional context for various embodimentsof the embodiments described herein, FIG. 4 and the following discussionare intended to provide a brief, general description of a suitablecomputing environment 400 in which the various embodiments of thesubject disclosure can be implemented. In particular, computingenvironment 400 can be used in the implementation of network elements150, 152, 154, 156, access terminal 112, base station or access point122, switching device 132, media terminal 142, and/or VNEs 330, 332,334, etc. Each of these devices can be implemented viacomputer-executable instructions that can run on one or more computers,and/or in combination with other program modules and/or as a combinationof hardware and software. For example, computing environment 400 canfacilitate in whole or in part obtaining a first plurality of inputsthat identify a plurality of geographical locations, wherein the firstplurality of inputs includes a map, a satellite image, an aerial image,an image included on a social media platform, or any combinationthereof, processing the first plurality of inputs to obtain a geocodingof the plurality of geographical locations, classifying each of theplurality of geographical locations in accordance with the geocoding toobtain a plurality of classes, obtaining a second plurality of inputsthat identify costs associated with a plurality of infrastructurelocated at the plurality of geographical locations, processing thesecond plurality of inputs in conjunction with the plurality of classesto generate a list of locations included in the plurality ofgeographical locations to decommission infrastructure included in theplurality of infrastructure, and presenting the list, a modified listcorresponding to a modification of the list, or a combination thereof,on an output device. Computing environment 400 can facilitate in wholeor in part obtaining a first plurality of inputs that identify aplurality of geographical locations and a plurality of infrastructurelocated at the plurality of geographical locations, classifying each ofthe plurality of geographical locations in accordance with the firstplurality of inputs to obtain a plurality of classes, obtaining a secondplurality of inputs that identify costs, revenue, profits, or anycombination thereof, associated with the plurality of infrastructure,processing the second plurality of inputs in conjunction with theplurality of classes to identify a first plurality of locations includedin the plurality of geographical locations to decommissioninfrastructure included in the plurality of infrastructure, andpresenting the first plurality of locations via a device. Computingenvironment 400 can facilitate in whole or in part obtaining at leastone map corresponding to at least one geographical area where networkinfrastructure is located, processing at least the at least one map toclassify the at least one geographical area, resulting in a class,identifying a cost associated with the network infrastructure inaccordance with the class, determining that the network infrastructureis to be decommissioned in accordance with the cost, and generating anoutput that indicates that the network infrastructure is recommended tobe decommissioned responsive to the determining.

Generally, program modules comprise routines, programs, components, datastructures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the methods can be practiced with other computer systemconfigurations, comprising single-processor or multiprocessor computersystems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, as well as personalcomputers, hand-held computing devices, microprocessor-based orprogrammable consumer electronics, and the like, each of which can beoperatively coupled to one or more associated devices.

As used herein, a processing circuit includes one or more processors aswell as other application specific circuits such as an applicationspecific integrated circuit, digital logic circuit, state machine,programmable gate array or other circuit that processes input signals ordata and that produces output signals or data in response thereto. Itshould be noted that while any functions and features described hereinin association with the operation of a processor could likewise beperformed by a processing circuit.

The illustrated embodiments of the embodiments herein can be alsopracticed in distributed computing environments where certain tasks areperformed by remote processing devices that are linked through acommunications network. In a distributed computing environment, programmodules can be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

Computing devices typically comprise a variety of media, which cancomprise computer-readable storage media and/or communications media,which two terms are used herein differently from one another as follows.Computer-readable storage media can be any available storage media thatcan be accessed by the computer and comprises both volatile andnonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way of example,and not limitation, computer-readable storage media can be implementedin connection with any method or technology for storage of informationsuch as computer-readable instructions, program modules, structured dataor unstructured data.

Computer-readable storage media can comprise, but are not limited to,random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), electricallyerasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or othermemory technology, compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM), digitalversatile disk (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devicesor other tangible and/or non-transitory media which can be used to storedesired information. In this regard, the terms “tangible” or“non-transitory” herein as applied to storage, memory orcomputer-readable media, are to be understood to exclude onlypropagating transitory signals per se as modifiers and do not relinquishrights to all standard storage, memory or computer-readable media thatare not only propagating transitory signals per se.

Computer-readable storage media can be accessed by one or more local orremote computing devices, e.g., via access requests, queries or otherdata retrieval protocols, for a variety of operations with respect tothe information stored by the medium.

Communications media typically embody computer-readable instructions,data structures, program modules or other structured or unstructureddata in a data signal such as a modulated data signal, e.g., a carrierwave or other transport mechanism, and comprises any informationdelivery or transport media. The term “modulated data signal” or signalsrefers to a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set orchanged in such a manner as to encode information in one or moresignals. By way of example, and not limitation, communication mediacomprise wired media, such as a wired network or direct-wiredconnection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and otherwireless media.

With reference again to FIG. 4, the example environment can comprise acomputer 402, the computer 402 comprising a processing unit 404, asystem memory 406 and a system bus 408. The system bus 408 couplessystem components including, but not limited to, the system memory 406to the processing unit 404. The processing unit 404 can be any ofvarious commercially available processors. Dual microprocessors andother multiprocessor architectures can also be employed as theprocessing unit 404.

The system bus 408 can be any of several types of bus structure that canfurther interconnect to a memory bus (with or without a memorycontroller), a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety ofcommercially available bus architectures. The system memory 406comprises ROM 410 and RAM 412. A basic input/output system (BIOS) can bestored in a non-volatile memory such as ROM, erasable programmable readonly memory (EPROM), EEPROM, which BIOS contains the basic routines thathelp to transfer information between elements within the computer 402,such as during startup. The RAM 412 can also comprise a high-speed RAMsuch as static RAM for caching data.

The computer 402 further comprises an internal hard disk drive (HDD) 414(e.g., EIDE, SATA), which internal HDD 414 can also be configured forexternal use in a suitable chassis (not shown), a magnetic floppy diskdrive (FDD) 416, (e.g., to read from or write to a removable diskette418) and an optical disk drive 420, (e.g., reading a CD-ROM disk 422 or,to read from or write to other high capacity optical media such as theDVD). The HDD 414, magnetic FDD 416 and optical disk drive 420 can beconnected to the system bus 408 by a hard disk drive interface 424, amagnetic disk drive interface 426 and an optical drive interface 428,respectively. The hard disk drive interface 424 for external driveimplementations comprises at least one or both of Universal Serial Bus(USB) and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394interface technologies. Other external drive connection technologies arewithin contemplation of the embodiments described herein.

The drives and their associated computer-readable storage media providenonvolatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executableinstructions, and so forth. For the computer 402, the drives and storagemedia accommodate the storage of any data in a suitable digital format.Although the description of computer-readable storage media above refersto a hard disk drive (HDD), a removable magnetic diskette, and aremovable optical media such as a CD or DVD, it should be appreciated bythose skilled in the art that other types of storage media which arereadable by a computer, such as zip drives, magnetic cassettes, flashmemory cards, cartridges, and the like, can also be used in the exampleoperating environment, and further, that any such storage media cancontain computer-executable instructions for performing the methodsdescribed herein.

A number of program modules can be stored in the drives and RAM 412,comprising an operating system 430, one or more application programs432, other program modules 434 and program data 436. All or portions ofthe operating system, applications, modules, and/or data can also becached in the RAM 412. The systems and methods described herein can beimplemented utilizing various commercially available operating systemsor combinations of operating systems.

A user can enter commands and information into the computer 402 throughone or more wired/wireless input devices, e.g., a keyboard 438 and apointing device, such as a mouse 440. Other input devices (not shown)can comprise a microphone, an infrared (IR) remote control, a joystick,a game pad, a stylus pen, touch screen or the like. These and otherinput devices are often connected to the processing unit 404 through aninput device interface 442 that can be coupled to the system bus 408,but can be connected by other interfaces, such as a parallel port, anIEEE 1394 serial port, a game port, a universal serial bus (USB) port,an IR interface, etc.

A monitor 444 or other type of display device can be also connected tothe system bus 408 via an interface, such as a video adapter 446. Itwill also be appreciated that in alternative embodiments, a monitor 444can also be any display device (e.g., another computer having a display,a smart phone, a tablet computer, etc.) for receiving displayinformation associated with computer 402 via any communication means,including via the Internet and cloud-based networks. In addition to themonitor 444, a computer typically comprises other peripheral outputdevices (not shown), such as speakers, printers, etc.

The computer 402 can operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections via wired and/or wireless communications to one or moreremote computers, such as a remote computer(s) 448. The remotecomputer(s) 448 can be a workstation, a server computer, a router, apersonal computer, portable computer, microprocessor-based entertainmentappliance, a peer device or other common network node, and typicallycomprises many or all of the elements described relative to the computer402, although, for purposes of brevity, only a remote memory/storagedevice 450 is illustrated. The logical connections depicted comprisewired/wireless connectivity to a local area network (LAN) 452 and/orlarger networks, e.g., a wide area network (WAN) 454. Such LAN and WANnetworking environments are commonplace in offices and companies, andfacilitate enterprise-wide computer networks, such as intranets, all ofwhich can connect to a global communications network, e.g., theInternet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 402 can beconnected to the LAN 452 through a wired and/or wireless communicationnetwork interface or adapter 456. The adapter 456 can facilitate wiredor wireless communication to the LAN 452, which can also comprise awireless AP disposed thereon for communicating with the adapter 456.

When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 402 can comprisea modem 458 or can be connected to a communications server on the WAN454 or has other means for establishing communications over the WAN 454,such as by way of the Internet. The modem 458, which can be internal orexternal and a wired or wireless device, can be connected to the systembus 408 via the input device interface 442. In a networked environment,program modules depicted relative to the computer 402 or portionsthereof, can be stored in the remote memory/storage device 450. It willbe appreciated that the network connections shown are example and othermeans of establishing a communications link between the computers can beused.

The computer 402 can be operable to communicate with any wirelessdevices or entities operatively disposed in wireless communication,e.g., a printer, scanner, desktop and/or portable computer, portabledata assistant, communications satellite, any piece of equipment orlocation associated with a wirelessly detectable tag (e.g., a kiosk,news stand, restroom), and telephone. This can comprise WirelessFidelity (Wi-Fi) and BLUETOOTH® wireless technologies. Thus, thecommunication can be a predefined structure as with a conventionalnetwork or simply an ad hoc communication between at least two devices.

Wi-Fi can allow connection to the Internet from a couch at home, a bedin a hotel room or a conference room at work, without wires. Wi-Fi is awireless technology similar to that used in a cell phone that enablessuch devices, e.g., computers, to send and receive data indoors and out;anywhere within the range of a base station. Wi-Fi networks use radiotechnologies called IEEE 802.11 (a, b, g, n, ac, ag, etc.) to providesecure, reliable, fast wireless connectivity. A Wi-Fi network can beused to connect computers to each other, to the Internet, and to wirednetworks (which can use IEEE 802.3 or Ethernet). Wi-Fi networks operatein the unlicensed 2.4 and 5 GHz radio bands for example or with productsthat contain both bands (dual band), so the networks can providereal-world performance similar to the basic 10BaseT wired Ethernetnetworks used in many offices.

Turning now to FIG. 5, an embodiment 500 of a mobile network platform510 is shown that is an example of network elements 150, 152, 154, 156,and/or VNEs 330, 332, 334, etc. For example, platform 510 can facilitatein whole or in part obtaining a first plurality of inputs that identifya plurality of geographical locations, wherein the first plurality ofinputs includes a map, a satellite image, an aerial image, an imageincluded on a social media platform, or any combination thereof,processing the first plurality of inputs to obtain a geocoding of theplurality of geographical locations, classifying each of the pluralityof geographical locations in accordance with the geocoding to obtain aplurality of classes, obtaining a second plurality of inputs thatidentify costs associated with a plurality of infrastructure located atthe plurality of geographical locations, processing the second pluralityof inputs in conjunction with the plurality of classes to generate alist of locations included in the plurality of geographical locations todecommission infrastructure included in the plurality of infrastructure,and presenting the list, a modified list corresponding to a modificationof the list, or a combination thereof, on an output device. Platform 510can facilitate in whole or in part obtaining a first plurality of inputsthat identify a plurality of geographical locations and a plurality ofinfrastructure located at the plurality of geographical locations,classifying each of the plurality of geographical locations inaccordance with the first plurality of inputs to obtain a plurality ofclasses, obtaining a second plurality of inputs that identify costs,revenue, profits, or any combination thereof, associated with theplurality of infrastructure, processing the second plurality of inputsin conjunction with the plurality of classes to identify a firstplurality of locations included in the plurality of geographicallocations to decommission infrastructure included in the plurality ofinfrastructure, and presenting the first plurality of locations via adevice. Platform 510 can facilitate in whole or in part obtaining atleast one map corresponding to at least one geographical area wherenetwork infrastructure is located, processing at least the at least onemap to classify the at least one geographical area, resulting in aclass, identifying a cost associated with the network infrastructure inaccordance with the class, determining that the network infrastructureis to be decommissioned in accordance with the cost, and generating anoutput that indicates that the network infrastructure is recommended tobe decommissioned responsive to the determining.

In one or more embodiments, the mobile network platform 510 can generateand receive signals transmitted and received by base stations or accesspoints such as base station or access point 122. Generally, mobilenetwork platform 510 can comprise components, e.g., nodes, gateways,interfaces, servers, or disparate platforms, which facilitate bothpacket-switched (PS) (e.g., internet protocol (IP), frame relay,asynchronous transfer mode (ATM)) and circuit-switched (CS) traffic(e.g., voice and data), as well as control generation for networkedwireless telecommunication. As a non-limiting example, mobile networkplatform 510 can be included in telecommunications carrier networks andcan be considered carrier-side components as discussed elsewhere herein.Mobile network platform 510 comprises CS gateway node(s) 512 which caninterface CS traffic received from legacy networks like telephonynetwork(s) 540 (e.g., public switched telephone network (PSTN), orpublic land mobile network (PLMN)) or a signaling system #7 (SS7)network 560. CS gateway node(s) 512 can authorize and authenticatetraffic (e.g., voice) arising from such networks. Additionally, CSgateway node(s) 512 can access mobility, or roaming, data generatedthrough SS7 network 560; for instance, mobility data stored in a visitedlocation register (VLR), which can reside in memory 530. Moreover, CSgateway node(s) 512 interfaces CS-based traffic and signaling and PSgateway node(s) 518. As an example, in a 3GPP UMTS network, CS gatewaynode(s) 512 can be realized at least in part in gateway GPRS supportnode(s) (GGSN). It should be appreciated that functionality and specificoperation of CS gateway node(s) 512, PS gateway node(s) 518, and servingnode(s) 516, is provided and dictated by radio technology(ies) utilizedby mobile network platform 510 for telecommunication over a radio accessnetwork 520 with other devices, such as a radiotelephone 575.

In addition to receiving and processing CS-switched traffic andsignaling, PS gateway node(s) 518 can authorize and authenticatePS-based data sessions with served mobile devices. Data sessions cancomprise traffic, or content(s), exchanged with networks external to themobile network platform 510, like wide area network(s) (WANs) 550,enterprise network(s) 570, and service network(s) 580, which can beembodied in local area network(s) (LANs), can also be interfaced withmobile network platform 510 through PS gateway node(s) 518. It is to benoted that WANs 550 and enterprise network(s) 570 can embody, at leastin part, a service network(s) like IP multimedia subsystem (IMS). Basedon radio technology layer(s) available in technology resource(s) orradio access network 520, PS gateway node(s) 518 can generate packetdata protocol contexts when a data session is established; other datastructures that facilitate routing of packetized data also can begenerated. To that end, in an aspect, PS gateway node(s) 518 cancomprise a tunnel interface (e.g., tunnel termination gateway (TTG) in3GPP UMTS network(s) (not shown)) which can facilitate packetizedcommunication with disparate wireless network(s), such as Wi-Finetworks.

In embodiment 500, mobile network platform 510 also comprises servingnode(s) 516 that, based upon available radio technology layer(s) withintechnology resource(s) in the radio access network 520, convey thevarious packetized flows of data streams received through PS gatewaynode(s) 518. It is to be noted that for technology resource(s) that relyprimarily on CS communication, server node(s) can deliver trafficwithout reliance on PS gateway node(s) 518; for example, server node(s)can embody at least in part a mobile switching center. As an example, ina 3GPP UMTS network, serving node(s) 516 can be embodied in serving GPRSsupport node(s) (SGSN).

For radio technologies that exploit packetized communication, server(s)514 in mobile network platform 510 can execute numerous applicationsthat can generate multiple disparate packetized data streams or flows,and manage (e.g., schedule, queue, format . . . ) such flows. Suchapplication(s) can comprise add-on features to standard services (forexample, provisioning, billing, customer support . . . ) provided bymobile network platform 510. Data streams (e.g., content(s) that arepart of a voice call or data session) can be conveyed to PS gatewaynode(s) 518 for authorization/authentication and initiation of a datasession, and to serving node(s) 516 for communication thereafter. Inaddition to application server, server(s) 514 can comprise utilityserver(s), a utility server can comprise a provisioning server, anoperations and maintenance server, a security server that can implementat least in part a certificate authority and firewalls as well as othersecurity mechanisms, and the like. In an aspect, security server(s)secure communication served through mobile network platform 510 toensure network's operation and data integrity in addition toauthorization and authentication procedures that CS gateway node(s) 512and PS gateway node(s) 518 can enact. Moreover, provisioning server(s)can provision services from external network(s) like networks operatedby a disparate service provider; for instance, WAN 550 or GlobalPositioning System (GPS) network(s) (not shown). Provisioning server(s)can also provision coverage through networks associated to mobilenetwork platform 510 (e.g., deployed and operated by the same serviceprovider), such as the distributed antennas networks shown in FIG. 1(s)that enhance wireless service coverage by providing more networkcoverage.

It is to be noted that server(s) 514 can comprise one or more processorsconfigured to confer at least in part the functionality of mobilenetwork platform 510. To that end, the one or more processors canexecute code instructions stored in memory 530, for example. It shouldbe appreciated that server(s) 514 can comprise a content manager, whichoperates in substantially the same manner as described hereinbefore.

In example embodiment 500, memory 530 can store information related tooperation of mobile network platform 510. Other operational informationcan comprise provisioning information of mobile devices served throughmobile network platform 510, subscriber databases; applicationintelligence, pricing schemes, e.g., promotional rates, flat-rateprograms, couponing campaigns; technical specification(s) consistentwith telecommunication protocols for operation of disparate radio, orwireless, technology layers; and so forth. Memory 530 can also storeinformation from at least one of telephony network(s) 540, WAN 550, SS7network 560, or enterprise network(s) 570. In an aspect, memory 530 canbe, for example, accessed as part of a data store component or as aremotely connected memory store.

In order to provide a context for the various aspects of the disclosedsubject matter, FIG. 5, and the following discussion, are intended toprovide a brief, general description of a suitable environment in whichthe various aspects of the disclosed subject matter can be implemented.While the subject matter has been described above in the general contextof computer-executable instructions of a computer program that runs on acomputer and/or computers, those skilled in the art will recognize thatthe disclosed subject matter also can be implemented in combination withother program modules. Generally, program modules comprise routines,programs, components, data structures, etc. that perform particulartasks and/or implement particular abstract data types.

Turning now to FIG. 6, an illustrative embodiment of a communicationdevice 600 is shown. The communication device 600 can serve as anillustrative embodiment of devices such as data terminals 114, mobiledevices 124, vehicle 126, display devices 144 or other client devicesfor communication via either communications network 125. For example,computing device 600 can facilitate in whole or in part obtaining afirst plurality of inputs that identify a plurality of geographicallocations, wherein the first plurality of inputs includes a map, asatellite image, an aerial image, an image included on a social mediaplatform, or any combination thereof, processing the first plurality ofinputs to obtain a geocoding of the plurality of geographical locations,classifying each of the plurality of geographical locations inaccordance with the geocoding to obtain a plurality of classes,obtaining a second plurality of inputs that identify costs associatedwith a plurality of infrastructure located at the plurality ofgeographical locations, processing the second plurality of inputs inconjunction with the plurality of classes to generate a list oflocations included in the plurality of geographical locations todecommission infrastructure included in the plurality of infrastructure,and presenting the list, a modified list corresponding to a modificationof the list, or a combination thereof, on an output device. Computingdevice 600 can facilitate in whole or in part obtaining a firstplurality of inputs that identify a plurality of geographical locationsand a plurality of infrastructure located at the plurality ofgeographical locations, classifying each of the plurality ofgeographical locations in accordance with the first plurality of inputsto obtain a plurality of classes, obtaining a second plurality of inputsthat identify costs, revenue, profits, or any combination thereof,associated with the plurality of infrastructure, processing the secondplurality of inputs in conjunction with the plurality of classes toidentify a first plurality of locations included in the plurality ofgeographical locations to decommission infrastructure included in theplurality of infrastructure, and presenting the first plurality oflocations via a device. Computing device 600 can facilitate in whole orin part obtaining at least one map corresponding to at least onegeographical area where network infrastructure is located, processing atleast the at least one map to classify the at least one geographicalarea, resulting in a class, identifying a cost associated with thenetwork infrastructure in accordance with the class, determining thatthe network infrastructure is to be decommissioned in accordance withthe cost, and generating an output that indicates that the networkinfrastructure is recommended to be decommissioned responsive to thedetermining.

The communication device 600 can comprise a wireline and/or wirelesstransceiver 602 (herein transceiver 602), a user interface (UI) 604, apower supply 614, a location receiver 616, a motion sensor 618, anorientation sensor 620, and a controller 606 for managing operationsthereof. The transceiver 602 can support short-range or long-rangewireless access technologies such as Bluetooth®, ZigBee®, Wi-Fi, DECT,or cellular communication technologies, just to mention a few(Bluetooth® and ZigBee® are trademarks registered by the Bluetooth®Special Interest Group and the ZigBee® Alliance, respectively). Cellulartechnologies can include, for example, CDMA-1X, UMTS/HSDPA, GSM/GPRS,TDMA/EDGE, EV/DO, WiMAX, SDR, LTE, as well as other next generationwireless communication technologies as they arise. The transceiver 602can also be adapted to support circuit-switched wireline accesstechnologies (such as PSTN), packet-switched wireline accesstechnologies (such as TCP/IP, VoIP, etc.), and combinations thereof.

The UI 604 can include a depressible or touch-sensitive keypad 608 witha navigation mechanism such as a roller ball, a joystick, a mouse, or anavigation disk for manipulating operations of the communication device600. The keypad 608 can be an integral part of a housing assembly of thecommunication device 600 or an independent device operably coupledthereto by a tethered wireline interface (such as a USB cable) or awireless interface supporting for example Bluetooth®. The keypad 608 canrepresent a numeric keypad commonly used by phones, and/or a QWERTYkeypad with alphanumeric keys. The UI 604 can further include a display610 such as monochrome or color LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), OLED(Organic Light Emitting Diode) or other suitable display technology forconveying images to an end user of the communication device 600. In anembodiment where the display 610 is touch-sensitive, a portion or all ofthe keypad 608 can be presented by way of the display 610 withnavigation features.

The display 610 can use touch screen technology to also serve as a userinterface for detecting user input. As a touch screen display, thecommunication device 600 can be adapted to present a user interfacehaving graphical user interface (GUI) elements that can be selected by auser with a touch of a finger. The display 610 can be equipped withcapacitive, resistive or other forms of sensing technology to detect howmuch surface area of a user's finger has been placed on a portion of thetouch screen display. This sensing information can be used to controlthe manipulation of the GUI elements or other functions of the userinterface. The display 610 can be an integral part of the housingassembly of the communication device 600 or an independent devicecommunicatively coupled thereto by a tethered wireline interface (suchas a cable) or a wireless interface.

The UI 604 can also include an audio system 612 that utilizes audiotechnology for conveying low volume audio (such as audio heard inproximity of a human ear) and high-volume audio (such as speakerphonefor hands free operation). The audio system 612 can further include amicrophone for receiving audible signals of an end user. The audiosystem 612 can also be used for voice recognition applications. The UI604 can further include an image sensor 613 such as a charged coupleddevice (CCD) camera for capturing still or moving images.

The power supply 614 can utilize common power management technologiessuch as replaceable and rechargeable batteries, supply regulationtechnologies, and/or charging system technologies for supplying energyto the components of the communication device 600 to facilitatelong-range or short-range portable communications. Alternatively, or incombination, the charging system can utilize external power sources suchas DC power supplied over a physical interface such as a USB port orother suitable tethering technologies.

The location receiver 616 can utilize location technology such as aglobal positioning system (GPS) receiver capable of assisted GPS foridentifying a location of the communication device 600 based on signalsgenerated by a constellation of GPS satellites, which can be used forfacilitating location services such as navigation. The motion sensor 618can utilize motion sensing technology such as an accelerometer, agyroscope, or other suitable motion sensing technology to detect motionof the communication device 600 in three-dimensional space. Theorientation sensor 620 can utilize orientation sensing technology suchas a magnetometer to detect the orientation of the communication device600 (north, south, west, and east, as well as combined orientations indegrees, minutes, or other suitable orientation metrics).

The communication device 600 can use the transceiver 602 to alsodetermine a proximity to a cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth®, or otherwireless access points by sensing techniques such as utilizing areceived signal strength indicator (RSSI) and/or signal time of arrival(TOA) or time of flight (TOF) measurements. The controller 606 canutilize computing technologies such as a microprocessor, a digitalsignal processor (DSP), programmable gate arrays, application specificintegrated circuits, and/or a video processor with associated storagememory such as Flash, ROM, RAM, SRAM, DRAM or other storage technologiesfor executing computer instructions, controlling, and processing datasupplied by the aforementioned components of the communication device600.

Other components not shown in FIG. 6 can be used in one or moreembodiments of the subject disclosure. For instance, the communicationdevice 600 can include a slot for adding or removing an identity modulesuch as a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card or Universal IntegratedCircuit Card (UICC). SIM or UICC cards can be used for identifyingsubscriber services, executing programs, storing subscriber data, and soon.

The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” and so forth, as used in theclaims, unless otherwise clear by context, is for clarity only and doesnot otherwise indicate or imply any order in time. For instance, “afirst determination,” “a second determination,” and “a thirddetermination,” does not indicate or imply that the first determinationis to be made before the second determination, or vice versa, etc.

In the subject specification, terms such as “store,” “storage,” “datastore,” data storage,” “database,” and substantially any otherinformation storage component relevant to operation and functionality ofa component, refer to “memory components,” or entities embodied in a“memory” or components comprising the memory. It will be appreciatedthat the memory components described herein can be either volatilememory or nonvolatile memory, or can comprise both volatile andnonvolatile memory, by way of illustration, and not limitation, volatilememory, non-volatile memory, disk storage, and memory storage. Further,nonvolatile memory can be included in read only memory (ROM),programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM),electrically erasable ROM (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory cancomprise random access memory (RAM), which acts as external cachememory. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM is available inmany forms such as synchronous RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM),synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhancedSDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM).Additionally, the disclosed memory components of systems or methodsherein are intended to comprise, without being limited to comprising,these and any other suitable types of memory.

Moreover, it will be noted that the disclosed subject matter can bepracticed with other computer system configurations, comprisingsingle-processor or multiprocessor computer systems, mini-computingdevices, mainframe computers, as well as personal computers, hand-heldcomputing devices (e.g., PDA, phone, smartphone, watch, tabletcomputers, netbook computers, etc.), microprocessor-based orprogrammable consumer or industrial electronics, and the like. Theillustrated aspects can also be practiced in distributed computingenvironments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices thatare linked through a communications network; however, some if not allaspects of the subject disclosure can be practiced on stand-alonecomputers. In a distributed computing environment, program modules canbe located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

In one or more embodiments, information regarding use of services can begenerated including services being accessed, media consumption history,user preferences, and so forth. This information can be obtained byvarious methods including user input, detecting types of communications(e.g., video content vs. audio content), analysis of content streams,sampling, and so forth. The generating, obtaining and/or monitoring ofthis information can be responsive to an authorization provided by theuser. In one or more embodiments, an analysis of data can be subject toauthorization from user(s) associated with the data, such as an opt-in,an opt-out, acknowledgement requirements, notifications, selectiveauthorization based on types of data, and so forth.

Some of the embodiments described herein can also employ artificialintelligence (AI) to facilitate automating one or more featuresdescribed herein. The embodiments (e.g., in connection withautomatically identifying acquired cell sites that provide a maximumvalue/benefit after addition to an existing communication network) canemploy various AI-based schemes for carrying out various embodimentsthereof. Moreover, the classifier can be employed to determine a rankingor priority of each cell site of the acquired network. A classifier is afunction that maps an input attribute vector, x=(x₁, x₂, x₃, x₄ . . .x_(n)), to a confidence that the input belongs to a class, that is,f(x)=confidence (class). Such classification can employ a probabilisticand/or statistical-based analysis (e.g., factoring into the analysisutilities and costs) to determine or infer an action that a user desiresto be automatically performed. A support vector machine (SVM) is anexample of a classifier that can be employed. The SVM operates byfinding a hypersurface in the space of possible inputs, which thehypersurface attempts to split the triggering criteria from thenon-triggering events. Intuitively, this makes the classificationcorrect for testing data that is near, but not identical to trainingdata. Other directed and undirected model classification approachescomprise, e.g., naïve Bayes, Bayesian networks, decision trees, neuralnetworks, fuzzy logic models, and probabilistic classification modelsproviding different patterns of independence can be employed.Classification as used herein also is inclusive of statisticalregression that is utilized to develop models of priority.

As will be readily appreciated, one or more of the embodiments canemploy classifiers that are explicitly trained (e.g., via a generictraining data) as well as implicitly trained (e.g., via observing UEbehavior, operator preferences, historical information, receivingextrinsic information). For example, SVMs can be configured via alearning or training phase within a classifier constructor and featureselection module. Thus, the classifier(s) can be used to automaticallylearn and perform a number of functions, including but not limited todetermining according to predetermined criteria which of the acquiredcell sites will benefit a maximum number of subscribers and/or which ofthe acquired cell sites will add minimum value to the existingcommunication network coverage, etc.

As used in some contexts in this application, in some embodiments, theterms “component,” “system” and the like are intended to refer to, orcomprise, a computer-related entity or an entity related to anoperational apparatus with one or more specific functionalities, whereinthe entity can be either hardware, a combination of hardware andsoftware, software, or software in execution. As an example, a componentmay be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, aprocessor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution,computer-executable instructions, a program, and/or a computer. By wayof illustration and not limitation, both an application running on aserver and the server can be a component. One or more components mayreside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component maybe localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or morecomputers. In addition, these components can execute from variouscomputer readable media having various data structures stored thereon.The components may communicate via local and/or remote processes such asin accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., datafrom one component interacting with another component in a local system,distributed system, and/or across a network such as the Internet withother systems via the signal). As another example, a component can be anapparatus with specific functionality provided by mechanical partsoperated by electric or electronic circuitry, which is operated by asoftware or firmware application executed by a processor, wherein theprocessor can be internal or external to the apparatus and executes atleast a part of the software or firmware application. As yet anotherexample, a component can be an apparatus that provides specificfunctionality through electronic components without mechanical parts,the electronic components can comprise a processor therein to executesoftware or firmware that confers at least in part the functionality ofthe electronic components. While various components have beenillustrated as separate components, it will be appreciated that multiplecomponents can be implemented as a single component, or a singlecomponent can be implemented as multiple components, without departingfrom example embodiments.

Further, the various embodiments can be implemented as a method,apparatus or article of manufacture using standard programming and/orengineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware or anycombination thereof to control a computer to implement the disclosedsubject matter. The term “article of manufacture” as used herein isintended to encompass a computer program accessible from anycomputer-readable device or computer-readable storage/communicationsmedia. For example, computer readable storage media can include, but arenot limited to, magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk,magnetic strips), optical disks (e.g., compact disk (CD), digitalversatile disk (DVD)), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g.,card, stick, key drive). Of course, those skilled in the art willrecognize many modifications can be made to this configuration withoutdeparting from the scope or spirit of the various embodiments.

In addition, the words “example” and “exemplary” are used herein to meanserving as an instance or illustration. Any embodiment or designdescribed herein as “example” or “exemplary” is not necessarily to beconstrued as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments ordesigns. Rather, use of the word example or exemplary is intended topresent concepts in a concrete fashion. As used in this application, theterm “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive“or.” That is, unless specified otherwise or clear from context, “Xemploys A or B” is intended to mean any of the natural inclusivepermutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both Aand B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any of the foregoinginstances. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” as used in thisapplication and the appended claims should generally be construed tomean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from context tobe directed to a singular form.

Moreover, terms such as “user equipment,” “mobile station,” “mobile,”subscriber station,” “access terminal,” “terminal,” “handset,” “mobiledevice” (and/or terms representing similar terminology) can refer to awireless device utilized by a subscriber or user of a wirelesscommunication service to receive or convey data, control, voice, video,sound, gaming or substantially any data-stream or signaling-stream. Theforegoing terms are utilized interchangeably herein and with referenceto the related drawings.

Furthermore, the terms “user,” “subscriber,” “customer,” “consumer” andthe like are employed interchangeably throughout, unless contextwarrants particular distinctions among the terms. It should beappreciated that such terms can refer to human entities or automatedcomponents supported through artificial intelligence (e.g., a capacityto make inference based, at least, on complex mathematical formalisms),which can provide simulated vision, sound recognition and so forth.

As employed herein, the term “processor” can refer to substantially anycomputing processing unit or device comprising, but not limited tocomprising, single-core processors; single-processors with softwaremultithread execution capability; multi-core processors; multi-coreprocessors with software multithread execution capability; multi-coreprocessors with hardware multithread technology; parallel platforms; andparallel platforms with distributed shared memory. Additionally, aprocessor can refer to an integrated circuit, an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic controller (PLC), acomplex programmable logic device (CPLD), a discrete gate or transistorlogic, discrete hardware components or any combination thereof designedto perform the functions described herein. Processors can exploitnano-scale architectures such as, but not limited to, molecular andquantum-dot based transistors, switches and gates, in order to optimizespace usage or enhance performance of user equipment. A processor canalso be implemented as a combination of computing processing units.

As used herein, terms such as “data storage,” data storage,” “database,”and substantially any other information storage component relevant tooperation and functionality of a component, refer to “memorycomponents,” or entities embodied in a “memory” or components comprisingthe memory. It will be appreciated that the memory components orcomputer-readable storage media, described herein can be either volatilememory or nonvolatile memory or can include both volatile andnonvolatile memory.

What has been described above includes mere examples of variousembodiments. It is, of course, not possible to describe everyconceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes ofdescribing these examples, but one of ordinary skill in the art canrecognize that many further combinations and permutations of the presentembodiments are possible. Accordingly, the embodiments disclosed and/orclaimed herein are intended to embrace all such alterations,modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope ofthe appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes”is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term isintended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as“comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in aclaim.

In addition, a flow diagram may include a “start” and/or “continue”indication. The “start” and “continue” indications reflect that thesteps presented can optionally be incorporated in or otherwise used inconjunction with other routines. In this context, “start” indicates thebeginning of the first step presented and may be preceded by otheractivities not specifically shown. Further, the “continue” indicationreflects that the steps presented may be performed multiple times and/ormay be succeeded by other activities not specifically shown. Further,while a flow diagram indicates a particular ordering of steps, otherorderings are likewise possible provided that the principles ofcausality are maintained.

As may also be used herein, the term(s) “operably coupled to,” “coupledto,” and/or “coupling” includes direct coupling between items and/orindirect coupling between items via one or more intervening items. Suchitems and intervening items include, but are not limited to, junctions,communication paths, components, circuit elements, circuits, functionalblocks, and/or devices. As an example of indirect coupling, a signalconveyed from a first item to a second item may be modified by one ormore intervening items by modifying the form, nature or format ofinformation in a signal, while one or more elements of the informationin the signal are nevertheless conveyed in a manner than can berecognized by the second item. In a further example of indirectcoupling, an action in a first item can cause a reaction on the seconditem, as a result of actions and/or reactions in one or more interveningitems.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement which achieves thesame or similar purpose may be substituted for the embodiments describedor shown by the subject disclosure. The subject disclosure is intendedto cover any and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments.Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments notspecifically described herein, can be used in the subject disclosure.For instance, one or more features from one or more embodiments can becombined with one or more features of one or more other embodiments. Inone or more embodiments, features that are positively recited can alsobe negatively recited and excluded from the embodiment with or withoutreplacement by another structural and/or functional feature. The stepsor functions described with respect to the embodiments of the subjectdisclosure can be performed in any order. The steps or functionsdescribed with respect to the embodiments of the subject disclosure canbe performed alone or in combination with other steps or functions ofthe subject disclosure, as well as from other embodiments or from othersteps that have not been described in the subject disclosure. Further,more than or less than all of the features described with respect to anembodiment can also be utilized.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device, comprising: a processing systemincluding a processor; and a memory that stores executable instructionsthat, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance ofoperations, the operations comprising: classifying each of a pluralityof geographical locations in accordance with a geocoding of theplurality of geographical locations to obtain a plurality of classes;obtaining a plurality of inputs that identify costs associated with aplurality of infrastructure located at the plurality of geographicallocations; processing the plurality of inputs in conjunction with theplurality of classes to generate a list of locations included in theplurality of geographical locations to decommission infrastructureincluded in the plurality of infrastructure; and presenting the list, amodified list corresponding to a modification of the list, or acombination thereof, on an output device.
 2. The device of claim 1,wherein the obtaining of the plurality of inputs is based on theplurality of infrastructure.
 3. The device of claim 1, wherein theclassifying comprises applying the geocoding to at least one model, andwherein the operations further comprise: generating feedback regardingthe list, the modified list, or the combination thereof; and modifying,in accordance with the feedback, the at least one model, at least oneinput included in the plurality of inputs, or a combination thereof. 4.The device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of classes includes a firstclass corresponding to a rural area, a second class corresponding to asuburban area, a third class corresponding to an urban area, or anycombination thereof.
 5. The device of claim 1, wherein the plurality ofgeographical locations is identified from census data, tax data, zoningdata, law enforcement data, utility data, a government-issuedcertificate, or any combination thereof.
 6. The device of claim 1,wherein the plurality of geographical locations is identified from aplurality of subscribers of: a network operator, a service provider, ora combination thereof.
 7. The device of claim 1, wherein the operationsfurther comprise: receiving a modification to the list in accordancewith a user-generated input, resulting in the modified list, wherein thepresenting of the list, the modified list, or the combination thereofincludes presenting the modified list.
 8. The device of claim 7, whereinthe receiving of the modification to the list includes receiving acredential, and wherein the operations further comprise: verifying thecredential; and generating the modified list responsive to the verifyingof the credential.
 9. The device of claim 1, wherein the presenting ofthe list, the modified list, or the combination thereof includespresenting the locations included in the plurality of geographicallocations with special effects overlaid on representations of thelocations on a map.
 10. The device of claim 9, wherein the specialeffects include highlighting, color-coding, an indication of a numericalranking, a shape, a symbol, or any combination thereof.
 11. The deviceof claim 1, wherein the output device includes a speaker, a displaydevice, a printer, or any combination thereof.
 12. A non-transitory,machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, whenexecuted by a processing system including a processor, facilitateperformance of operations, the operations comprising: classifying eachof a plurality of geographical locations in accordance with a geocodingof the plurality of geographical locations to obtain a plurality ofclasses; obtaining a plurality of inputs that identify costs associatedwith a plurality of infrastructure located at the plurality ofgeographical locations; processing the plurality of inputs inconjunction with the plurality of classes to generate a list oflocations included in the plurality of geographical locations todecommission infrastructure included in the plurality of infrastructure;and presenting the list, a modified list corresponding to a modificationof the list, or a combination thereof, on a device.
 13. Thenon-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein theoperations further comprise: presenting, via the device, instructions, atutorial, or a combination thereof, wherein the instructions, thetutorial, or the combination thereof identifies a tool required todecommission the infrastructure, a technique used to decommission theinfrastructure, or a combination thereof.
 14. The non-transitory,machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the classifying occurs inaccordance with a model, and wherein the operations further comprise:obtaining feedback from the device; and modifying the model inaccordance with the feedback to obtain a modified model.
 15. Thenon-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 14, wherein theoperations further comprise: obtaining a second plurality of inputs thatidentify a second plurality of geographical locations and a secondplurality of infrastructure located at the second plurality ofgeographical locations; classifying each of the second plurality ofgeographical locations in accordance with the second plurality of inputsand the modified model to obtain a second plurality of classes;obtaining a third plurality of inputs that identify second costsassociated with the second plurality of infrastructure; processing thethird plurality of inputs in conjunction with the second plurality ofclasses to identify a second plurality of locations included in thesecond plurality of geographical locations to decommission secondinfrastructure included in the second plurality of infrastructure; andpresenting the second plurality of locations via the device.
 16. Thenon-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein theclassifying of each of the plurality of geographical locations assigns ascore to each of the plurality of geographical locations, and wherein arespective score for a given geographical location included in theplurality of geographical locations is based at least in part on apopulation density of the given geographical location.
 17. A method,comprising: classifying, by a processing system including a processor,each of a plurality of geographical areas in accordance with a geocodingof the plurality of geographical areas to obtain a plurality of classes;obtaining, by the processing system, a plurality of inputs that identifycosts associated with a plurality of network infrastructure located atthe plurality of geographical areas; processing, by the processingsystem, the plurality of inputs in conjunction with the plurality ofclasses to generate a list of locations included in the plurality ofgeographical areas to decommission network infrastructure included inthe plurality of network infrastructure; and outputting, by theprocessing system, the list, a modified list corresponding to amodification of the list, or a combination thereof, on an output device.18. The method of claim 17, wherein the outputting includes anidentification of a product, a service, or a combination thereof, toreplace the network infrastructure.
 19. The method of claim 17, furthercomprising: obtaining, by the processing system, at least one imagecorresponding to at least one geographical area of the plurality ofgeographical areas, wherein a class in the plurality of classes is basedin part on a processing of the at least one image; and identifying, bythe processing system, the network infrastructure in the at least oneimage in accordance with the processing of the at least one image. 20.The method of claim 19, wherein the processing of the at least one imageoccurs in accordance with a model, the method further comprising:obtaining, by the processing system, feedback regarding the outputting;modifying, by the processing system, the model in accordance with thefeedback, resulting in a modified model; classifying, by the processingsystem, at least one geographical area in accordance with the modifiedmodel, resulting in a modified class that is different from the class;identifying, by the processing system, a second cost associated with asecond network infrastructure located at the at least one geographicalarea in accordance with the modified class; determining, by theprocessing system, that the second network infrastructure is to bedecommissioned in accordance with the second cost; and generating, bythe processing system, a second output that indicates that the secondnetwork infrastructure is recommended to be decommissioned responsive tothe determining that the second network infrastructure is to bedecommissioned.